Laine Hendricks, Director of Countywide Communications
Laine served as County of Marin’s Public Information Officer starting in 2016 and became Director of Communications in early 2023. As PIO, she is responsible for leading and strengthening internal and external countywide communications and enhancing public outreach. Her specialty focus is in outreach strategy, crisis communications and digital media. Laine studied Mass Communication and Journalism at California State University, Fresno. She has more than a decade of experience in public relations, supporting nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations focused on social service, health care, and environmental causes. Most recently, she served for seven years as Public Relations Director for The Salvation Army, Golden State Division. Laine has lived in the Bay Area since 2009 and is an active member of Rotary International. What spare moments are not devoted to volunteering with Rotary are spent snowboarding, skiing, and sampling the cuisine of the North Bay. In a past life, Laine was a nationally ranked equestrian athlete for Fresno State, earning top-five finishes at both the NCAA and Intercollegiate Horse Show Association championships. Follow Laine on Twitter.
Angelina Martin, Public Information Specialist
Angelina, who joined the team in early 2023, has a well-rounded portfolio of public communications experience. She has taken the lead on the County’s social media platforms and is helping build a cohesive social media outreach and engagement program. Most recently, she supported Sonoma County Animal Services as a media specialist. Her tenure included the very harrowing North Bay Fires, during which her work helped bolster SCAS’s social media presence, helping to reunite over 250 animals with their families. She also has a finance background, giving her a balance of creative and analytical skills that are needed for successful social media campaigns. She was raised in the East Bay and graduated from California State Maritime Academy.
Mari, who joined the team in fall 2023, brings five years of experience serving clients in the public and private sectors across the world’s leading public relations and communications firms, including WPP, Omnicom and Dentsu International. In her previous roles, Mari represented clients such as the U.S. Census, Meta, Amazon, Walmart, Samsung, Dell Technologies, Bank of America, Visa, and many others, crafting compelling stories in English, Spanish, and Portuguese on their behalf. Her expertise lies in building and maintaining strong relationships with media outlets and key stakeholders as well as securing high-impact media coverage for clients at the local, regional, and national level. Mari holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University and an M.A. in Professional and Strategic Communication from the University of San Francisco, for which she serves as an Adjunct Professor of Public Relations. Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, she spent eight years in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before settling in the Bay Area.
Brent Ainsworth, Public Information Specialist (part-time)
Brent joined the County of Marin in 2013 after a 24-year career in local journalism. As a Public Information Specialist, he is charged with improving all forms of public information on behalf of the County such as news releases, social media, video public service announcements, photography, media relations and employee media training. He started his career on the San Jose Mercury News sports staff during his final two years of journalism studies at San Jose State University. He served in sports and news roles at the Santa Cruz Sentinel for nine years, followed by 13 years in various reporting and editing positions at the Marin Independent Journal. Just prior to joining the County of Marin, he covered Novato for Patch.com for 2.5 years. A resident of Marin since 1997, he has volunteered for many civic events and organizations such as the Novato Festival of Art, Wine & Music, the Novato Fourth of July Parade, Novato’s City Birthday Party, and the Marin County United Veterans Council. His claim to fame is working on the equipment staff for the San Francisco 49ers in the mid-1980s.